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Count von Count
Count von Count is a mysterious but friendly Sesame Street character, loosely parodying the popular conception of the vampire, especially Bela Lugosi's portrayal of Count Dracula. He first appeared on the show in 1972, in episode 0406, the Season 4 premiere. The Count has a compulsive love of counting (arithmomania); he will count anything and everything, regardless of size, amount, or how much annoyance he is causing the other people around him. When he finishes counting, he laughs and announces his total (which sometimes appears on screen). This is usually followed by a crash of thunder and lightning. In recent years, the Count has appeared on each episode to announce the Number of the Day, playing notes on his organ to count up to the featured number. According to the 1998 book Sesame Street Unpaved, the Count is 1,832,652 years old. This figure seems questionable -- the first homo sapiens appeared on Earth about 250,000 years ago, and it doesn't seem likely that the Count predates all modern humans. It's more likely that somebody asked the Count how old he was, and once he started counting his birthdays, he got excited and couldn't stop. When the Count sings, the background music resembles Roma music, no matter what the song. The Count bears a noticeable resemblance to Bela Lugosi as Dracula in voice, appearance, and sometimes even mannerisms -- waving his hands or holding the cape over his face in early sketches. The character has never been specifically labeled as a vampire, and unlike the traditional monster of horror films, the Count often relaxes in the sunlight (as seen in "Counting Vacation" and "Coconut Counting Man," among others). He also does not drink blood, and he cannot turn into a bat; however, like a vampire, as revealed in an early skit, he shows no reflection in a mirror. He speaks with an Eastern European accent and pronounces his Vs as Ws. The Count lives in an old, cobweb-infested castle that he shares with many bats. Sometimes he counts them. Some of the pet bats are named, including Grisha, Misha, Sasha, and Tattiana. He also has a cat, Fatatita, and an octopus named Octavia. He also plays a large pipe organ, and in some illustrations he is seen playing the violin. In the 1970s, he had his own organ theme music, and he had his own introduction line: "Greetings. I am the Count. Do you know why they call me the Count? Because I love to count things!" In his earlier appearances in 1972, he was slightly more sinister than he later became. He had hypnotic powers, and was able to stun people by waving his hands. After counting, he uttered a villainous laugh as the thunder crashed, and the colors would change different hues. Later, he became friendlier, dropped the hypnotic powers, and his laugh was changed to a Dracula-style laugh. The Count's most recent girlfriend, Countess von Backwards, is known for counting backwards. He had previously been linked to Countess Dahling von Dahling and shared a brief romantic tryst with Lady Two. His brother and mother have made appearances on the show, and he also has an Uncle Uno. In Season 33, the Count received his own daily segment on Sesame Street called The Number of The Day. He was a DJ for his own radio station on the album The Count's Countdown, and hosted a music video show in Count it Higher: Great Music Videos from Sesame Street. He also served as an announcer in Learning About Numbers. Appearances He made cameo appearances in The Muppet Movie (in the finale) and The Muppets Take Manhattan (in the wedding), and has also been featured in the Sesame Street movies Follow That Bird and Elmo in Grouchland. He was also in The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years and A Muppet Family Christmas. The Count made a special appearance on episode 518 of The Muppet Show, emerging with his Sesame co-stars from the Three Bears' cave when Ali Baba shouts, "Open Sesame!" On November 14, 1988, Count co-hosted The Today Show with Meryl Sheep. Trivia * Some traditional vampire myths depict vampires as having a similar obsession with counting small objects, providing a means of distracting them by tossing a handful of seeds or salt on the ground. * The Count's New York license plate number (as seen in Follow That Bird) is 1234578910. * In a Number of the Day segment for 0: "Oh hello, it is I, The Count. I'm called the Count because I love to count. Err, that, and I inherited my father's royal title." Despite this claim to royal blood, however, Count is a title of nobility rather than royalty. * According to the book Sesame Street Unpaved, after Jon Stone read the first script of a Count skit, he sent it back to the writer, Norman Stiles, with a note scribbled atop: "Good character, bad bit". That skit was never produced. * His favorite TV show is 24. *In Count it Higher: Great Music Videos from Sesame Street, he says that his favorite song is "Count it Higher". However, Sesame Street Unpaved states that his favorite songs are "Born to Add" and "Count on Me." * The phone number he dials for a delivery is 123-4567. * The Count's car is the Countmobile. Book appearances * Books starring Count von Count * The Sesame Street Book of Fairy Tales (1975) * Big Bird's Busy Book (1975) * Cookie Monster and the Cookie Tree (1977) * The Sesame Street Bedtime Storybook (1978) * The Exciting Adventures of Super Grover (1978) *''A Day on Sesame Street'' (1979) * Look What I Found! (1980) * The New Who's Who on Sesame Street (1980) * The Sesame Street Dictionary (1980) * What Did You Bring? (1980) * Oscar's Rotten Birthday (1981) * The Sesame Street Sun (1981) *''City'' (1982) * A Day at School (1982) * A Sesame Street Christmas (1982) * The Little Red Hen (1983) * Big Bird Brings Spring to Sesame Street (1985) * Big Bird's Book of Rhymes (1985) * Big Bird's Copycat Day (1985) *''Ernie's Finish the Picture'' (1985) * Follow That Bird Activity Book (1985) * Follow That Bird coloring book (1985) * Grover's Book of Colors (1985) * Find the Shapes (1986) * Through the Year (1986) * Colors (1987) * Ernie's Neighborhood (1987) * A Rainy Day on Sesame Street (1987) * The Day Snuffy Had the Sniffles (1988) * A New Playground on Sesame Street (1988) * Come As You Are (1989) * I Can't Wait Until Christmas (1989) * Grover's Bad Dream (1990) * Museum of Monster Art (1990) * Big Bird Plays the Violin (1991) * Halloween Party (1991) * Sleep Tight! (1991) * Grover's 10 Terrific Ways to Help Our Wonderful World (1992) * We're Different, We're the Same (1992) * Around the Corner on Sesame Street (1994) *''Elmo's Big Lift-and-Look Book'' (1994) * Sesame Street Stays Up Late (1995) * B is for Books! (1996) * Pumpkin Patch Party (1997) * Slimey in Space (1998) * Where is Elmo's Blanket? (1999) *''Elmo's ABC Book'' (2001) *''Clap Your Hands!'' (2002) * Elmo Look and Find (2002) *''Elmo Pops In!'' (2003) * Brought to You by... Sesame Street! (2004) * Boo! (2005) *''Elmo's Easy As ABC'' (2005) *''Elmo's Delicious Christmas'' (2005) * Red or Blue, I Like You! (2005) *''Know Your Numbers'' (2006) *''Learn About Counting with the Count'' (2006) *''Elmo Visits the Dentist'' (2007) * Elmo's Favorite Places (2007) * Elmo's World Super Sticker Book (2007) * Friendly, Frosty Monsters (2007) * Let's Match (2007) *''Music Player Storybook'' (2007) See also *Count von Count Sketches *International Count von Count Category:Sesame Street Characters Category:Muppet Characters Category:Muppet Show Guest Stars Category:Numbers Category:Halloween Characters